Since the mid-1960s, state lotteries have become big business and an important revenue source for states that sanction them. Lotteries now provide in excess of $40 billion to state coffers. Most states that offer a state lottery provide more than one type of lottery “game.” For example, the California lottery system offers more than five types of lottery game. Central to the success of such lottery games is a reliance by customers that their chance of winning, i.e. a probability of having a single ticket being a winner, is the same for all players per ticket.
One of the most popular forms of lottery game is a game in which players obtain a series of six numbers printed on a ticket in a row, as shown in FIG. 1. The ticket may include any number of rows of numbers, called “picks.” The ticket in FIG. 1 includes 6 picks, i.e. sets of numbers in a row—the first five numbers being an ascending set of numbers from 1 to 47, and a sixth number selected from 1 to 27. Each pick represents a separate cost, and as such, unless the potential jackpot is very large, a majority of players may only buy one or two picks.
This type of lottery ticket is similar to a “Super Lotto” game of the California lottery, where the first five numbers represents the basic lottery portion, and the sixth number is a bonus number, known as a MEGA number, that substantially decreases odds of a complete match by a single pick, and thereby allows for ever-increasing jackpot amounts. To win, one row of numbers on the ticket must match a set of numbers randomly drawn by lottery officials.
The numbers may be selected from a predetermined range of numbers by a player, or randomly drawn by a computer. For example, in the California lottery, players may choose to receive one or more “Quick Picks” in which a terminal randomly picks their numbers. In this example, a microprocessor in the terminal begins a counting process as soon as a keyboard key is pressed by a terminal operator, typically a clerk at an establishment that sells lottery tickets. Each time another key is pressed, the processor computes the elapsed time, then takes the resulting figures and scrambles them with numbers issued on the last ticket sale. Then, the newly-generated pick numbers are arranged in ascending order along with the randomly-generated MEGA number, and printed on a ticket.
Each time a ticket is printed, whether with player-selected numbers or randomly-generated picks, a remote server is contacted and the picks are registered. These numbers will be tracked and accessed upon a random drawing of winning numbers, so that a winner can be determined. The winning numbers are typically drawn by a machine that mixes and randomly retrieves balls of uniform size and weight printed with numbers. The machine are adapted to ensure a completely random process. Alternatively, a standalone computer may be used to randomly-generate winning numbers.
Players of this type of lottery game must endure two certainties: a completely random drawing in which the chances of winning are the same for each pick, and a time delay between the time one or more picks are printed and the time a winning set of numbers are drawn.